I am in the City of Gangneung, the eastern terminus of Yeongdong Expressway (Route 50) which comes in from Seoul.

In 2018, when Pyeongchang County in inland Gangwon Province hosts the Winter Olympics, Gangneung, on the coastline, will host some of the low-altitude events.

Stereotypical rural Korean scene, created at one corner of Ojukheon.

In the front are two shaman village guardians, once a very common sight at entrances to every village. They always come in pairs. One is named 天下大將軍 (Great General Under the Heavens) while the other is named either 地下大將軍 (Great General of the Underground), as seen here, or 地下女將軍 (Female General of the Underground). The "Under the Heavens" figure can be a female as well, but that is extremely rare.

In the rear are large painted clay jars that are used to store and ferment kimchi underground in the winter. Kimchi, now a well-known staple of Korean cuisine, was a way to preserve and eat vegetables all through the cold Korean winter, as well as one of the few ways to eat pepper-based spicy food in a colder climate.